1. Skip a few consecutive meals (try four or five consecutively)

2. Take a few hours each day (yes, the best hours when all the fun stuff happens) to be alone and stop hanging around as many people.

3. Admit openly all your flaws and faults and be super sensitive and apologetic when you wrong someone (verbally, emotionally etc) and when you are wronged ‘let it go’… (quickly, nay, immediately)!

4. Take some of your earned cash (try 10%), and now some more of your own personal (for “entertainment” purposes) stash {you wont be needing as much seeing as you will be spending that time alone…see #2}, and give it away.

Wham! Greatness! Significance! Impact!

- See Matthew 5-7 for Details

Here’s a freebie: In every circumstance be open and willing to be the one who helps out and serves others. (yes, even giving up some of your personal plans, except maybe #2)

(Please note this list will only works within the context of love for God, obedience to the Word and rejection of sin)

The Need for Night and Day Prayer:

Now that we have established one of the foundations of prayer, namely the context, we move onto the necessity of saints to pray. Jesus, in one of His parables, gave us a unique insight into the plight of humanity and the nature of God in relation to the prayers of the saints, which is seen in Luke 18:7-8:

‘God will bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night’

This verse gives us the basic outline that exemplifies the necessity for prayer. The basis rests in our inherent need for justice. Now justice manifests itself in various ways according to the nature of the injustice. For example, justice in regards to sickness would be healing or in regards to sin would be punishment or bondage would be deliverance. Every human uniquely qualified for prayer in that each one of us has an inherent need and each one of us has been profoundly affected by injustice. The inherent injustice in the earth and the invisible cosmic battle that surrounds us is one the foundational understandings that the necessity of prayer rests. These two issues require a response and that response is prayer. In other words, if we desire to see people saved, set free from bondage and the spiritual climate to change then the first option we have is prayer.

This scripture then gives us an astonishing promise that any conscious saint would rejoice in, namely that God acts on the prayers of His saints. He breaks into time and space to put wrong to right. Prayer simply being agreement with God and His Word. Intercession being involved or in agreement with what God has promised to do, yea, even revealed is longing to do. A good example of this is Isaiah 62:1,6 – when the Lord speaks of His own zeal to restore Jerusalem:

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet, Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, And her salvation like a torch that is burning (vs.1)

And then speaks of ‘setting watchmen on the wall’, which are consumed with His zeal for that same city:

On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves (vs.6)

At the moment I am currently reading, studying and praying through Isaiah. It has been a long time coming and I am finally getting somewhere in it. The last few months I think I have read the introduction of commentaries and such more time than necessary. Anyway, I have finally got into the actual words of God, so you may just find some of my more developed thoughts on this site. As I am doing all this study and such, I am vitally aware that in order to ‘get’ what you need out of study you need to do it with a spirit of devotion and dedication. I would define devotion as the loving attention to the words and dedication as the commitment to obey and follow through on what the words convey.

Devotion to the Word of God can be seen on many levels, the foremost being meditation, contemplation, and study - ‘Looking under every stone and in every crack’ if you will. This attention springs from an awareness of whom it is that is speaking to you through them. We must hear the voice of the bridegroom in every sentence, yes even Leviticus, in order to fully understand the truth being conveyed. What do I mean by the bridegroom? Very simply put it is the understanding of God as a personal God who longs to be intimate with His creation. From this stem the concepts of His fiery dedication, His intense affection, His inherent gladness and His extraordinary tenderness and mercy. Understanding God like this is understanding in an elementary way as Bridegroom. Having a spirit of devotion is consciously living life before the gaze of such a One.

Dedication, therefore, can be described as the loved hearts response of gratitude to the Lover. Being dedicated, or obeying the commandments of God, are not burdensome to the person who realizes the gracious heart of the God before whom he/she stands. Dedication simply is the response of a heart well-loved. Not to mean that follow through and obedience aren’t costly and at times very difficult, but in the end to a true child of God they are merely the expression and overflow of the awareness and realization of being loved well. Find the person who obeys well, from the heart with longevity, and you will find someone who has realized his/her worth and value in Gods eyes.

In other words, we read the Word of God and understand whom it is that is talking - a loving, affectionate and glad God - and respond with conviction as someone who is worthy of that love, affection and gladness. You could even say that we live in the reality of what God says we are and that response of gratitude is the heart of obedience.

I leave you with this, a quote from Jurgen Moltmann that sums up this post:

“Theological talk about God stems from doxological (an expression of praise and worship to God) talk to God, and remains talk before God” {Spirit of Life}

The Reality of Night and Day Prayer:

The concept of Night and Day Prayer, although in the mind of the majority of the world seems outrageous and even impossible, is becoming more and more widely accepted among certain groups of Christians in the world today. It is my firm belief that it is the foundation of the new expression of the church that we will see in the days ahead. I think that God will see to it that His ministers will buy into this wholeheartedly before Jesus Returns (Rev 22:17 reveals that the bride will be a praying Bride in union with His heart by the end and if so, how much more so the leaders). As the famous quote goes ‘a man is not greater than his prayers’, so I believe it is true that every work in the days ahead will have to have this banner: ‘a work is not greater than its foundation of prayer’. Therefore I consider prayer, specifically continual night and day prayer, as the very foundational standard of my ministry. Every one of the various aspects of my ministry will be centered and find its roots in prayer.

The Context for Night and Day Prayer:

First, I want to focus briefly on the foundational understanding of the need for prayer. In Ephesians 6:12, Paul talks of the unique scenario that saints find themselves in. He talks of them ‘waging war’ but not with human armies or physical artillery rather they are fighting against an invisible host called ‘principalities and power and rulers in heavenly places’. It is into this context that Paul urges the saints to use their most powerful weapon: prayer (Eph. 6:18).It is this artillery of prayer that God has chosen to dislodge these hosts from their dominion over regions and the minds of unbelievers and believers alike (2 Cor. 4:4, Eph 2:2).

This spiritual battle is exemplified in Daniel 10 where Daniel has set himself in prayer and fasting (another key component with prayer) for 21 days. After this time of fasting an angel of God breaks in to deliver Daniel a message from heaven and explains the cosmic events that transpired during the previous 21 days. The scene explains a cosmic battle between the ‘principality’ of that region and this angel and how the messenger angel was constrained by this ‘prince’ until, at the end 21st days, God sends the archangel Michael. Now this is fascinating but the most exceptional part comes in when it is implied that it was Daniel’s faithful and perseverant prayers that empowered them to win the battle in the heavenlies. It was through the prayers of this saint that dislodged this demonic host of the Babylonian empire (and could be argued set the political stage for centuries to come). This Old Testament example only serves to paint a more colorful picture of Paul’s statement. So by these few verses, which are supported in other places, we are left understanding the cosmic and spiritual scenario that the saint finds himself in.

This month has been a scarce month for my blog, not because I don’t have anything to say. But because my beautiful girlfriend was down and my attention was somewhat captivated elsewhere. However, I am now back. I am rearing to go on some topics on my hear but before that here is a little tidbit into where I am at currently:

Since coming to Cape Town I am convinced more and more of the ’season’ (a word I prefer not to use) I am in with the Lord. I would call it a testing time, in the best possible sense of the word. Now because of this I am noticing more than ever little fissures and cracks in my heart in certain issues. *Shock*!!! The words of Leonard Ravenhill are very applicable here, ‘There is no finality to the Christian walk’. In other words, the Christians life this side of eternity is a constant unwavering struggle against the ‘natural’ entropy of a fallen world. Something that is easily forgotten while in the midst of a great community of godly friends, but starkly realized in the absence of it. In all of this the leadership of the Lord is so perfect to bring about the greatest expression of love from a whole heart. Nevertheless, because of this I am feeling compelled to return to the basics, the simple Christian practices and doctrines, in order to retrace my steps and hopefully ‘fill in the gaps’.

As someone once said ‘a true friend is someone who is able to sing the song of your heart when you have forgotten it’, well that is what I feel when I read some of these books. In a strange sense, the authors themselves, most of whom are dead, are becoming more real companions than those of whom I am currently surrounded. Words like ’silence’, ‘prayer’ and ’solitude’ and phrases like ’simplicity of devotion to Christ’ and ‘uncompromised zeal’ are more desirable to me at the moment than the more intellectually demanding thoughts, which I suppose I will one day get to write down here. But for now you may have to bear with my ‘childish’ ranting on the basics. But who knows maybe I’ll surprise myself with a few more challenging topics just for fun.

In the words of John Piper “You don’t need to know a lot of things to make a huge difference for the Lord in the world, but you do need to know a few things that are great and to be willing to live for them and die for them…” So maybe the basics are more necessary than at first realized.

Jonathan

Sitting on bench in Fish Hoek (My home town) on a ‘winters’ day!

Yes, it was like 72 deg.

Sitting in front of Hout Bay

This is my first photo post. I hope to add some more especially while Laura is down here. The first day she was here it was 70-72 deg. and we drove around the entire coastline literally. It was epic! Stopping along the way to walk on some beaches, look at some killer views and generally just enjoy the weather and each other.

Jonathan

I think often in our overly heroic view of ourselves (yes, I am lumping you in with me) we tend to miss some of the more normal and basic things of faith. We are very quick to say to God “I’ll do anything” with the implication that it will be something that will be ‘worth our while’, not some small trivial endeavor like being polite, meek and Christlike to all those whom we meet throughout the day. Most of us are not under the delusion that ministry is defined to a select few, but is given as a mandate to all believers. But I think most of us are still in the place of looking for that ‘worthwhile thing’ and end up missing some of the more sublime dimensions of ministry and kingdom living. Truly, God’s response to “I’ll do anything’ is simply ‘Do it in everything’. (The ‘it’ refers to glorifying God, seeing that that is the end for which we do anything - right?)

Jonathan

For anybody who has sought after a deepening prayer life they are at once confronted with the lack of language and the inability to converse with God. It is however, sooner or later, depending on how much that person uses the giants of the faith for guidance and how diligently he pursues it, that person begins to talk in the language of heaven, namely the word of God - the word of God being both God’s language towards humanity and our language to God. But it is in this place that the seeker begins to notice a peculiar happening, namely the inability to communicate again into purely human terms. Not to mention that these people become utterly uninterested with topics that are at least slightly heavenward, they are in fact unable to carry a conversation very far without the language of heaven breaking into the dialogue.

The hilarity comes to its apex and to the point of absurdity with the prophets. Who because of the lack of earthy language he is forced to convey the greatness of his vision in gibberish language of ‘like’, ‘likeness’, ‘in the appearance’. There is a real sense in these passages that apart from some aid from God in his pre-emptive unveiling of certain other things the prophet would be left quite dumb, namely having handles such as ‘fire’, ‘rainbows’ or ‘clouds’ etc. There are times when this in fact happens. Ezekiel sits in a comatose state for several days, while Daniel is sickened, there is a sense that he needed a few years to gather his thoughts before putting pen to his revelations

As the notable A.W. Tozer has said that if a angelic messenger were to come down from the glories of heaven he would not find any enjoyment in any other conversation than that which led to God and that the topic of God would be the foremost on his lips (that is my paraphrase, of course – Tozer being far more eloquent). So it is with the man who has touched something in God. His words become mere gibberish to those who are unschooled in the language of God. They altogether think his words to be mere smatterings of common sense, but that is the furthest from the truth. They are rich with truth and saturated with life, but it will take that person his whole lifetime to find the adequate language to express it in human terms. That is why, in truth, I believe that God has chosen that the best way for the heavenly knowledge to be diffused is through the ‘incarnation of that word’ through a human vessel in action. There was something of Pauls message that was incomprehensible to people that only his actions (Col 1:24) could adequately express. Does this mean that we recline to never seek to make sense or convey a clear idea? No! But let us become the message in ourselves and then every movement will be an expression of the truth of heaven. Then let us also seek the ability to communicate in human terms, something that will be easier once we ourselves become the vessels of the word!

So let us seek clarity in word, truth in action. But in all this remember that to most we will sound like fools speaking gibberish, but to those who have understanding the mysteries of heaven.

Jonathan

P.S. Test me on this. If you give yourself to a wholehearted pursuit of God for an extended season in holiness and prayer with the word. Soon you will begin to talk in ‘gibberish’ too, but you’ll be in good company – all the wise men and women of God!

So often today people have come to understand discernment as sanctified ‘demon spotting’. It is as if you need some sort of special gift to notice evil? Whereas the bible says that the whole world is under the sway of the wicked one and that He is the price and the power of the air. So in actual fact the odds are that if you spin yourself around and point in any direction you’ll see something that is ‘evil’. All that to say, I think the common belief of discernment is off. I believe that discernment has to do with evil, but it is the acknowledgment of the good, clean and pure which is set against the evil. It was the Levitical priests, and now the Christians, job to discern between the holy and unholy. How is this done? Simply by looking for the good, and holy thing. Then it will be abundantly clear what is otherwise. Like the simple analogy goes you don’t make a dark room lighter by scooping out the darkness, you make it lighter my turning on the light. Discernment is acknowledging the good, perfect and holy thing. (A friend of mine Benji Nolot wrote a paper on it called ‘The prophet of beauty’, He is a man of God and the paper will blow you away!)

What does this have to do with being a friend of the bridegroom? Well quite a bit actually. You see many people view John the Baptist, the archetype FotB, as that cranky, slightly deranged man. But in all reality he was a ‘prophet of Beauty’. He had glimpsed something of the heart of God, namely God as bridegroom, and it forced him to live the way he did. In the words of Paul the Apostle - the love of Christ compelled him (2 Cor 5:14). He had seen the beauty and splendor of God. He understood that God wanted a bride and he used every ounce of his strength to ‘win’ God that prize! John 3 is such an explicit statement of the person of John, each line is rich with revelation and power. But the last portion is a key to what I want to express. He heard the voice of the Bridegroom and His joy was made full. (As a side note: how many of us have given ourselves to something so wholly that we can the moment before its arrival be utterly empty, but that upon its coming we are made full, satisfied and are able to feel its full force. Have we too easily filled up on many lesser things, so that when the true thing arrives we are left unmoved and unaffected, even while we die of spiritual malnourishment. I submit one of the greatest joys is true emptiness satisfied - try fasting a few days and see how much you enjoy some tasty food after that, that is a joy that people who have no want never enjoy.) The friend of the Bridegroom, by virtue of being that very thing, rejoices in hearing the voice of the bridegroom. That something that many FotB’s should watch for. There is a common thought today that in order to be such we must be slightly jaded, critical and ‘discerning’. But I submit that it is the FotB’s who are those who are called to feel the most joy and delight in the even small movements of God. They are its greatest champions, for at one moment they are for it and yet are not satisfied with it remaining only a small movement. FotB’s are called to rejoice in God movements, and voices, wherever the source may be. Otherwise their very position as FotB’s is compromised! They understand completely that a man can only receive that which has been given from above, and therefore accepts his portion and rejoices in the portion of another. This is the heart of Paul in Philippians 1 - that whether in pretense or truth Christ is preached. Our goal is to be satisfied in Him and to rejoice at His voice. That is our reward! So does that mean they aren’t confrontive? No! They are and will be. Does that mean they don’t seem sour at time? No! They are and will be. But these are byproducts of someone who has tasted the good and sees the rotten substitute for what it is -rotten and decayed. It is from the place of beauty and rejoicing that comes the sweet mournful lament of ‘repent’, a cry of turning from the substitute to the authentic thing.

Jonathan

One of my favorite things to do is to read biographies, especially of great men of the faith, and I am currently reading a short biography on John Bunyan by John Piper. It is very exciting and provoking, but there is one particular part in it that strikes me. It is found in the commentary portion of the biography and in it Piper writes, as he is commenting on the sufferings that Bunyan underwent during his life,

“If all is well and this world is all that matters, a pastor may become jealous of prosperous people who spend their time in leisure. But suffering abounds, and if prosperity is a cloak for the true condition of frisky, fun-loving, perishing Americans {westerners}, then being a pastor may be the most important and glorious of all work.”

Most live as if there is nothing wrong, therefore they are not burdened to change their lifestyle accordingly. But those who truly understand the crisis of the hour, either commit mental and emotional suicide or they change. I think Western Christianity is broadly clumped into these two group. I am so stirred to once again rend my heart in order to open myself to reality, and no longer hide in the crowd of people who proclaim ‘peace’. It is actually staggering how naive and incomprehensible it is, that people who live in a world that screams of crisis can console and comfort their minds with blatant, irresponsible ignorance. One thing that I can say with confidence is that even if we acknowledge or not we will be judged for it. I believe that we will stand before Jesus as a generation one day and have to give account. The way out is simple ‘rend your heart’ and ‘refuse to be comforted’. Action is required!

Jonathan